by Sheri Richey
“I’ll get Amanda digging around first thing in the morning. Are you interviewing tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’ve got several people to talk to,” Conrad said feeling anxious to get started yet also dreading it at the same time.
“Did you make a list?” Cora said arching her eyebrows high. Cora was a famous list maker and she always nagged at Conrad to embrace her organizational skills. Although he privately found lists very helpful, he preferred to tease her about the time she wasted making hers.
“I got it all up here,” Conrad said tapping his index finger on his temple while Cora laughed.
CHAPTER 22
“Morning, Chief,” Georgia called out when she saw Conrad come in the side door stomping his feet. The weather had turned back to spring showers during the night and rain was lashing down now. Shaking his coat out in the hallway and tipping his head over before removing his hat, a puddle had formed at his feet.
“Lousy weather,” Conrad said as his shoes squeaked down on the linoleum. “Everything okay so far?” Rain this hard sometimes meant a few collisions in town between those that pulled over and those that pushed through the hard rains.
“Just one call and Tabor is handling it. I’ve got a phone message for you, too,” Georgia said as Conrad approached the dispatch office. “Sorry, Chief. The Sheriff wants you to call him.”
“Okay,” Conrad said without surprise. He expected Bobby to be frustrated the case had broken in a way he couldn’t directly be involved.
“I guess it’s about the bones. Did you do the death notification?”
“Yes, I talked to Mavis, but the coroner told Miriam.” Conrad headed back to his office.
“Well, you got the better end of that,” Georgia called out behind him as Conrad shut his office door.
How sad it must be when no one wants to talk to you. He wondered why Miriam had to treat people so badly. She was a bright, capable woman and despite their disagreements on the vision for the city of Spicetown, she did some good things for the town as the president of the Chamber of Commerce, yet she didn’t have a single friend.
“Chief Harris, returning the Sheriff’s call,” Conrad said when the phone was answered. Bobby Bell never answered his own phone.
“Connie,” Bobby said quietly when he answered the phone. “Rough weekend.”
“Yes, for some,” Conrad said, surprised at Bobby’s passive greeting. Today was going to be gloomy on every level.
“You’ve started interviews?”
“I have. I have several more planned today.” Conrad pulled out his secret to-do list and numbered them in the order he planned to call. “I’ve got some contact information—”
“Don’t tell me any details,” Bobby interrupted. “I need to stay away from all this so I’m leaving it in your hands.”
“That’s fine.”
“If you need help, we’ll pull in the State, but I don’t want my name tied to this. I don’t know Howard Bell, but he is related to me somehow, I’m told. I don’t need there to be any appearances of impropriety.”
“I understand.”
“I want you to keep Alice updated though and she’ll coordinate everything with the county prosecutor if it comes to that.”
“Will do.”
“Oh, and Connie,” Bobby said in closing, “Don’t mess this up.”
Before Conrad could reassure him he would do his best, Bobby Bell had hung up on him again.
§
“Oh, Amanda,” Cora called out when she heard a noise in the outer office. “Is that you?”
“Yes, Mayor. I’m here,” Amanda said looking in Cora’s doorway. “You’re in the office early today.”
“Yes, much to do,” Cora said standing up and walking around her desk. “Looks like you took a bath on the way in today.” Cora chuckled as Amanda peeled off her rain jacket and propped her umbrella in the corner of the room.
“Ugh, my hair is ruined. I don’t know why I bothered.”
“It is so dark out there now. It was just beginning to sprinkle when I came in, but it’s hitting the windows pretty hard now.”
“And it’s Monday,” Amanda moaned.
“I bet you’re tired working all weekend at the nursery and then coming in here all week. You’re going to have to find some time for yourself somewhere or it’s going to get to be too much.”
“It’s just for the start. When things get going well, Bryan will be able to afford to hire people. Then maybe we’ll have some time to do fun stuff.”
“I hate to tell you this, but I think he’s going to be working around the clock all summer. If he’s going to do landscaping as well as run the nursery, it’s going to be longer than you think. Having your own business can really swallow up your life, especially at the start. I hope you both can hang in there. He seems to be doing really well. You got him off to a great start.”
“I hope so,” Amanda said wistfully. “So, what brought you to work so early? Did you know it was going to pour down rain?”
“I didn’t sleep well, and I was up earlier than usual. I just thought I’d get started. Go ahead and get your computer up. I need you to look up Mavis’ property. We talked about it last week but then I forgot about it. I need to know who owns it.”
“Oh, I looked it up. I guess I forgot to tell you. It’s owned by that same LLC, Stanton Bell.” Amanda entered her password and stared at her monitor. “It has been for years.”
“I thought that might be the case. We need to know what this LLC is about. Can you pull a list of all the property they currently own in the county?”
“I think so,” Amanda said. “We may have to get a plat map to figure out where it is if it’s out in the county. There won’t be a street address or anything.”
“Is that online too?”
“Probably. Let me look.”
“Oh, and one more thing,” Cora said turning towards her office door. “Pull up any property owned by Miriam Landry and see who deeded it to her.”
“Okay,” Amanda said as Cora went into her office and shut the door. It was time to reach into the history of Spicetown and call her friend and mentor, Violet Hoenigberg. Miss Violet knew all the old gossip in town.
§
Having failed to connect with Miriam’s sister, Wanda, Conrad moved to the next person on his list. Officer Tabor had located Carmen’s ex-husband in West Virginia. He had opened a store there and Conrad felt certain he would be easier to talk to than Carmen Maddox. He kept cautiously moving Carmen further down every time he renumbered his list.
“Gentry Tires.”
“Good morning. I’m trying to reach Andrew Gentry.”
“This is Andrew. How can I help you?”
“This is Conrad Harris. I’m the Chief of Police in Spicetown, Ohio. Do you have a few minutes to speak with me?”
“Sure. How can I help you?”
“I don’t know if you keep up on the news around Spicetown anymore—”
“No, Chief,” Andrew said chuckling. “I haven’t been back to Spicetown in over ten years.”
“Well, recently there was body discovered that has been identified as Howard Bell. Did you know Howard?”
“No, not personally, but I knew of him.”
“That’s kind of why I’m calling,” Conrad said. “Your name was linked to him because of Carmen and I wanted to ask a few questions about that.”
“Look, Chief. I don’t know the man at all. Carmen’s name was linked to everybody. That was part of the problem in our marriage,” Andrew said.
“I’m trying to discern what is gossip and what is truth,” Conrad explained. “Do you have any direct knowledge that Howard Bell was in a relationship with your ex-wife? I mean did you ever see them together or talk to him at all?”
“Never,” Andrew stated flatly. “Just gossip. For all I knew, she spread it. I think she thought it would make me jealous and she caused a lot of it herself. Have you talked to her yet?”
“No, not yet.”
/> “She’s crazy, Chief. You can’t believe anything she says. She has documented mental health issues.”
“Well, that’s one of the reasons I’m calling you first. I don’t need to deal in gossip right now. I wanted to know if there was anything valid in the stories that she was in a relationship with Howard or pregnant with his child when your marriage ended. Howard Bell is mentioned in your divorce and that caused me some concern. Were you alleging—”
“No, Chief. I didn’t really think he was seeing Carmen. I thought she started those rumors and I was going to use them against her. I can’t help you with your investigation and I don’t think she can either.”
“Okay,” Conrad said. “I appreciate your candor. If I need a signed statement from you at some point, would you have any reservations about supplying that?”
“Not at all. Whatever you need, just let me know.”
Conrad thanked him and ended his call with a sigh of relief. Perhaps nothing further would be needed from Carmen.
§
“Okay, I’ve got some things together for you here,” Amanda said walking around Cora’s desk with a stack of papers. “This is a current list of holdings. Stanton Bell LLC owns seventeen properties right now.”
“Wow,” Cora said jerking her head back. “That’s a lot. Why have I never heard of this LLC before?”
“Well, probably because it’s mostly farmland. There are only three houses here in town that show up as being owned by the LLC.”
“Is one of them Miriam’s?” Cora looked up expectantly at Amanda.
“No, her house is in her name.”
“Who did she buy it from?”
“She didn’t buy it. It was quit-claimed from Stanton Bell LLC to her in 1998,” Amanda said handing Cora a copy of the deed.
“So, someone signed it over to her, because I know she lived in it before that. She’s always been in the same house.”
“See the signature,” Amanda said pointing to the bottom of the page. “It’s just the name of the Registered Agent. It still doesn’t tell us who they are.”
“We can find out, can’t we?”
§
“Hi, Wanda,” Conrad said when Georgia transferred him a call from Miriam’s sister. “I’m so glad you had the chance to call back. Are you doing okay?”
“Yes. It was a shock to see the officers at my front door, but at least I was a little prepared. I hope you can find out who did this to Howard.”
“Well, we are definitely going to try. It’s difficult with the time lapse, but I did have one quick question for you I didn’t ask earlier.” Conrad was relieved she sounded strongly committed to continuing to help with the investigation.
“Certainly. I’ll help any way I can.”
“Have you heard of Stanton Bell, LLC? Is this someone in your family?”
“Stanton is my mother’s maiden name,” Wanda said tentatively. “I think this is the partnership or agreement my dad came to with my grandfather.”
“So, Stanton is your mother’s father and the Bell is your father?”
“Yes, they did some partnering on some property purchases and my mom’s house, too. The company owned it, instead of my parents. They used to lease land to farmers and had some rentals in town. I thought all of that had been dissolved now though. When my mom died, I thought that was all sold.”
“What happened to your mom’s house when she passed away? Did you sell it?”
“Oh, I don’t know those details. Miriam said she’d take care of it and for me not to worry. She said she’d make sure any outstanding bills were paid and she did mail me some paper to sign so I didn’t have to travel back to Spicetown. It let her handle the closing or whatever she had to do for the estate. She took care of it.”
“So, there wasn’t any life insurance or inheritance involved?”
“Oh, no,” Wanda said. “My parents lived pretty meagerly, and my mom had been sick for a while. I’m sure there were medical bills and funeral bills. Lots of little details, but nothing of value to be concerned with. Miriam is good at handling all those kinds of things. She always took care of that stuff for Mom, too. I doubt Howard even got involved.”
“Was there a will, or an estate probated?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure,” Wanda hesitated. “I think I remember Miriam telling me the house was in a trust, so it didn’t have to be probated or something like that. She planned to sell the house and pay the remaining bills. If there was any little left, that would just go to her for her trouble. I told her I didn’t expect anything, and I was just glad she was there to handle it all.”
“Did you come back to Spicetown when your mom passed away? I’m assuming her services were here in town?”
“They were, but I wasn’t able to come. I have some health problems and I was on dialysis when my mom passed. I couldn’t really travel back then.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize. I’m sorry. Your health has improved since then?”
“Oh, yes,” Wanda said. “I had a kidney transplant and so far, things have gone well. I was very sick for a number of years though. I couldn’t even come home to see mom before she died, but I did talk to her. She always told me not to worry, Miriam was taking care of everything for her. I’m sure Miriam can give you any details you need.”
“Well, thank you for your time. I appreciate the call and this information is helpful.”
“Chief,” Wanda said timidly. “I know Miriam can be difficult at times. She’s not very patient with people. She’s not patient with me either, but she has a good heart. I know she’d want to help find out what happened to Howard.”
“I hope you’re right, Wanda.”
CHAPTER 23
“Okay, I’ve got a lot here to sort out,” Amanda said blowing out a puff of air to ruffle her bangs. “This may create more confusion than provide answers, but I’ve pulled everything I can think of.”
“My goodness,” Cora said standing up from her desk. “Let’s take that over to the conference table where we can spread out.”
“These are the deeds for the seventeen properties the LLC owns now. Most all of them are dated in the 1970s or ‘80s.” Amanda placed one stack of her papers on the table. “This is a plat map where I tried to mark where I think they are.”
“Who owned these properties before?”
“All except two were previously owned by Lawrence Stanton and he transferred them to the LLC.”
“And the other two?” Cora asked.
“One is Miriam Landry’s house. It was bought by the LLC from the Bank of Spicetown and the other is a house on Coriander Court. It was previously owned by Ned Carey.”
“That’s Conrad’s coffee drinking buddy,” Cora said. “He’s always in the Fennel Street Bakery in the morning and Conrad has coffee with him.”
“The lawyer?”
“Yes, he has an office just off Ginger Street. I don’t think he ever lived on Coriander Court though,” Cora said. “Who lives there now?”
“I didn’t look that up. Want me to go check?”
“Yes, please do. Check and see who is paying the water bill.”
§
“Mrs. Martin? This is Chief Harris from the Spicetown Police Department. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?”
“Oh, of course you can, Chief. I read all the news about the bones and everything. Sandy Nash told me my daughter, Dixie, knew that man that died and Sandy talked to the Mayor about it.”
“Yes, she told me about speaking with Sandy. I saw the report you filed back in 1999. The report says that she had been missing since December 19.”
“That’s right. She didn’t show up for her last shift at work at Sesame Subs before she was due to come home for Christmas.”
“That’s why I’m calling. Are you certain about that date? I mean, did you or someone see Dixie on December 18th of 1999?”
“Well, I didn’t because she was living in Spicetown, but Sandy saw her. I think they worked together that day.
Is that important?”
“Howard Bell disappeared on the 17th, so that’s why I was curious. It may not mean anything. I have not seen any evidence of a connection between your daughter and Mr. Bell. I just wanted to check those dates,” Conrad said marking Dixie off his list.
“I guess the restaurant could confirm that. Sandy seemed pretty sure about the date. Maybe you could talk to them and see.”
“I’ll check on it. Thank you, Mrs. Martin.”
§
When his stomach began to growl, Conrad reached for the phone.
“Cora?”
“Aaaaah, good grief, Connie. You almost gave me a heart attack,” Cora screeched into the phone. “I was just picking up the phone to call you.”
“I didn’t even hear it ring,” Conrad said laughing. “What did you need?”
“I was going to tell you to come over if you can. Amanda has unearthed all kinds of information on this LLC and I thought you might want to see it. What did you need?”
“I was calling to see if you wanted to go to lunch.”
“Well, we must both have things to share,” Cora said chuckling.
“It sounds that way. Why don’t I just pick up something for lunch and bring it over?”
“That sounds like a good idea. Did you talk to Carmen today?”
“No,” Conrad said. “I don’t think I need to now. I talked to Andrew and he seemed pretty certain Carmen had nothing to do with Howard.”
“What?” Cora fell back in her chair and tossed her head back. “Are you kidding me? That talk was all over town. How could that be?”
“Andrew says she made it all up. He didn’t paint the picture that Carmen was a credible interview. I don’t think I could believe anything she said.”
“I’d have to agree if that affair was a fabrication. She put up with a lot of negative attention from that rumor and what rational person does that when it only hurts them?”
